RETALES: Charger Burger is Darmouth’s new gourmet burger option

Charger Burger is a new gourmet burger outlet in the Woodside area of Dartmouth. - Tim Krochak

The building was originally built as a KFC then transitioned into an Arby’s and most recently Off the Grill. Now, 392 Pleasant St. in the Woodside neighbourhood of Dartmouth is Charger Burger.

Charger Burger is a second location for Lazeezo Gourmet Burgers and Poutine on Parkland Drive in Clayton Park in Halifax. The original location will also be switching its branding to Charger Burger later this year, and they are working on a third location on Sackville Drive in the new plaza at the corner of Sackville Cross Road in Lower Sackville. Expect it to open late this fall.

Charger is a fast-food restaurant that focuses on burgers, chicken fingers and poutine. Since Lazeezo opened two years ago, they have developed a following for their hearty burgers and creative poutines. All their beef and chicken dishes are also Halal.

The mozza stick double burger, for example, is topped with mozzarella, salsa, mayo and mozzarella sticks. The crispy chicken poutine has mozzarella and mozzarella curds, chicken, pickles and garlic sauce on top of fresh-cut fries.

Owner Muntadhr Naji says he came to this country from Iraq in 2009.

“I had no money, no English.”

He says he worked hard, learned and eventually opened a bakery and two barber shops before opening Lazeezo. His ZamZam Bakery provides wholesale samosas to many other businesses around town.

Naji said every business he has opened has some things the same, but operating them is completely different and he is always learning.

When it came time to expand, he looked to register Lazeezo nationally but another chain called Lazeez was operating in Ontario. So he worked with a marketing firm and they came up with Charger Burger, which, based on the new location, looks like an established brand.

Here are some other retail highlights and happenings:

The Last Gamestore in Clayton Park has announced that it will be closing at the end of September.

I hear Quinpool Road’s Truly Tasty is on the move later this year or early next year. They won’t be going far though; they will be just next door in the longtime former home of the Trail Shop. This is just another shuffling of stores on Quinpool, with Vogue Optical and the Trail Shop moving last year, and Bi One Korean BBQ getting ready to move across the street.

Their location on Gottingen Street remains open, but the Nook in Bedford has closed its cafe at the corner of the Bedford Highway and Hammonds Plains Road.

Originally opened in Truro and then moving to the Bedford Highway for a few years before closing in October, Cafe l’Acadie has resurfaced with its Acadian dishes at 8369 Peggys Cove Rd. in Indian Harbour.

The 2 Chefs Schnitzel Bistro on King Street in Dartmouth has closed, but it has been sold and a to-be-named restaurant will be replacing it.

The Home Outfitters in Dartmouth Crossing has closed as HBC wraps up the chain. The store for the last few months had served as a liquidation point for all HBC-owned stores.

Two national quick-serve food chains are coming our way. Tex-Mex barBurrito, I hear, will be opening a location in Bayers Lake. While the Chopped Leaf, focused on healthy eating, will be opening locations in Bayers Lake and Dartmouth Crossing.